Tag: Australia

THE SKIN I’M IN screens at Visible Evidence XIX

National Film and Sound Archive at ANU in Canberra, Australia

Lively discussion around THE SKIN I’M IN after its screening at VISIBLE EVIDENCE XIX this afternoon. Screened in a beautiful art deco theater at the National Film and Sound Archive on the Australia National University campus in Canberra.

Visible Evidence is an amazing conference of documentary practitioners and scholars from around the world, convening for four days annually to present critical papers, screen works, and have conversations. More info here: http://www.visibleevidence2012.com

I had the chance to wear both my maker and scholar hats delivering a paper after the screening on performativity and autobiography as documentary strategies.

Such a special opportunity for me to screen and discuss SKIN with makers and scholars I’ve long admired and whom I use in the classroom with students.

Treatment for Fox’s Next Film Zen & the Art of Dying Wins a 2012 Chris Award

Columbus International Film + Video Festival

The treatment for our next documentary project Zen & the Art of Dying  has won a 2012 Chris Award from the 2012 Columbus International Film & Video Festival.

CIF+VF is the longest-running film festival in the United States, celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

The festival describes its mission as “honoring and screening the work of makers whose creations of vision, beauty and power help us understand the complexities of our world by using their committed artistry to touch our minds and hearts.”

The CIF +FV treatment competition is open to both fiction and documentary project treatments and is intended to generate exposure and support for awarded projects.

More information about this year’s festival ca be found at http://www.chrisawards.org

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard Schools Opposition Leader on Misogyny

Julia Gillard on ABC

In the wake of an American presidential debate where canned sound bytes are scored and tallied daily, and a Big Bird quip is enough fodder to make Americans twitter, skit, and meme for a week, American citizens and politicians alike could take a lesson from Australians about the level of free, substantive discourse afforded by its Parliamentary system.

 

Opposition leader Tony Abbot tried to pin the fallout of a parliamentary sex scandal onto Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and she was having none of it. The specifics of the case resonate strongly with my thoughts on this Dina Brown page about misogyny (being endemic not only to culture at large, but within the gay community as well). Married Speaker of the House Peter Slipper (who has since resigned) allegedly sexually harassed a gay male staff member with text message exchanges (now a matter of public record) rife with denigrating references to women and their genitalia. Get more of the grizzly details from Jezebel.com’s Tracie Egan Morrissey.

 

All the details of the scandal aside, the real power and takeaway here come from Gillard’s masterful speech on misogyny and sexism delivered on the floor of Parliament. Watch the full speech below, courtesy of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and share your thoughts in the comment feed.

 

Website for Our New Project Zen & the Art of Dying Now Live

Zen & the Art of Dying banner

I’m excited to announce my next documentary project DEATHWALKER which is a documentary on Australian Natural Death Center founder Zenith Virago. We’ll also be producing a Natural Death Web Initiative to provide a space for personal stories, practical support materials, and global conversation about natural death care.

Not sure what natural death care is? Check out the project Website:

http://zenandtheartofdying.com

For those of you in Byron Shire, Australia, we’ll be there all of November and December filming. Check out the “Get Involved/Tell Your Story” page, and let me know if you wish to participate!

Film Festival Enters Final Days: Arizona Daily star

The Arizona Daily Star  made me an honorary Australian. 🙂 Confusion came from the fact that THE SKIN I’M IN is listed as a U.S./Australian co-production due to fact that exec producer Lee Biolos is Australian as well as the incredible generosity of Australian contributors. I’d be an honorary Australian any day!

Arizona Daily Star Banner

 

 

 

 

The 21st annual Arizona International Film Festival enters the home stretch with more than a dozen features, documentaries and shorts, and a couple of filmmakers from Australia. Read full article

Kicking down the celluloid closet door

Echo Net Daily Banner

Kicking down the celluloid closet door

As far back as 1997, filmmaker Broderick Fox was receiving substantial recognition and awards for his work. But in 2005 he was found unconscious on the Berlin subway tracks, injured from the fall and with a lethal blood alcohol level of 0.47. Lucky for him, strangers pulled him to safety.

Broderick had been given another chance at life. Forced to acknowledge how empty and unhinged his life had become, Fox made a very big decision. One that took him on a journey of body, mind and spirit. Initiating an unusual collaboration between himself, a Canadian indigenous Kwakwakan artist (Rande), and an African-American tattoo artist (Zulu), Broderick sets himself on the path to turn his life around. Read full article

 

 

 

 

THE SKIN I’M IN Has World Premiere at the Byron Bay International Film Festival as ACON Fundraiser

Byron Bay International Film Festival / ACON / THE SKIN I'M IN

The World Premiere at the Byron Bay Film Festival was extraordinary. Screening was a fundraiser for ACON, Australia’s leading LGBT health service organization.

Marie from ACON Northern Rivers introduces The Skin I'm In at the Byron Bay International Film festival premiere
Marie from ACON Northern Rivers introduces The Skin I’m In at the Byron Bay International Film festival premiere

Marie, the director of ACON Northern Rivers began the evening with a “welcome to country” acknowledgment that we were on Arakwal Aboriginal lands and as guests, share a responsibility for its custodianship. This sensibility, along with the spirituality and connectedness of Byron made this a pretty unbelievable place to launch the journey of THE SKIN I’M IN.

Here is a link to a digital “welcome to country” that played before many of the festival’s screenings: